Our Mission
Open Science Community Umeå (OSCU) aspires to be a platform where researchers, academic professionals, and students can meet, discuss, collaborate, and act. We strive to support a research culture that encourages openness, collaboration, reproducibility, and accountability at Umeå University.
Join us!
Therefore, we invite all researchers and students at UmU who share our belief in Open Science to join our community. Come learn what you can do to improve the way research is conducted, shared, and disseminated.
Our Vision
OSCU is a part of the International Network of Open Science & Scholarship Communities (INOSC). The groups within this network have a shared vision. We believe that the Open Science reform might be our time’s most significant shift in research policy and practice. The opportunity to influence developments is now. Therefore, we:
- Envision a process where grassroots communities of researchers and academic professionals are actively involved in progressing an Open Science future and a research system that benefits research and society as a whole.
- Want to facilitate and co-create a shift where research results and resources are made as available as possible and where people work together to further research and development.
- Want to see an Open Science system where scientific ideals and research integrity are genuinely supported and rewarded.
Our Aims
- Enable an active Open Science discussion on campus.
- Foster and facilitate Open Science practices.
- Be a platform for Open Science initiatives with a grassroots perspective.
- Be a natural discussion partner in policy making and development of infrastructure and support services.
- Stay curious and connected with Open Science-related initiatives and networks within and outside Umeå university and academia.
- Be welcoming and inclusive to all employment levels, including students, in all academic fields and research areas.
Aim #1 Enable an active Open Science discussion on campus
To fully realize the benefits of Open Science for academia and society, it is crucial to shift the culture so that Open Science becomes simply “Science.” Open science needs to be contextualized and discussed in a way that gives people in academic and research settings a sense of agency and purpose to realize its place in society. Without this shift, Open Science risks the perception of being just another bureaucratic burden. An ongoing broad, multidisciplinary discussion giving voice to the academic grassroots community also safeguards against the possible implementation of counter-productive practices and frameworks.
Aim #2 Foster and facilitate Open Science practices.
Open Science is not just an idea or a policy, it is also a way to do research and academic activities in practice. The know-how and best practices are constantly evolving, and there is much to learn from each other. OSCU aims to function as a platform for exchanging ideas and experiences on how to include open science in academic and professional practice. The community also welcomes those just approaching Open Science practice to meet with more experienced peers who might have been early adopters.
Aim #3 Be a platform for Open Science initiatives with a grassroots perspective.
OSCU is a member-driven organisation. As such, we welcome initiatives and ideas for activities we can organise or participate in. We want to function as a platform for members to realise their Open Science related ideas and to self-create the activities and organisation we want at Umeå university at any given time. Besides creating these initiatives organically, we also aim to help provide frameworks to make concepts and ideas reality, for example guidelines for doing specific types of events and communication through our platforms.
Aim #4 Be a natural discussion partner in policy making and development of infrastructure support services.
OSC Umeå operates independently from institutional policy. We are a self-steering organisation and don’t receive instructions, targets, or tasks from other parties. Still, we do collaborate with other stakeholders and strive to be a discussion partner in the development of policy, infrastructure, training and institutional support – especially at Umeå university.
Aim #5 Stay curious and connected with Open Science-related initiatives and networks within and outside Umeå university and academia.
Open science is not a local affair or limited to universities and research organisations. Therefore, it is important to be curious about the world around us and to keep in touch with other initiatives and networks locally, nationally and internationally – inside and outside academic environments.
Aim #6 Be welcoming and inclusive to all employment levels, including students, in all academic fields and research areas.
We aim to be a pluralistic organisation that reflects the composition and diversity of the university. This is reflected in our strategic approach to networking and outreach, as well as in our internal structures and group culture.